Sue Catton has been appointed as the London 2020 Organising Committee’s Competition Manager for Hockey and Wheelchair Rugby. She will be responsible for all the planning, organisation and management of the Hockey and Wheelchair Rugby events at the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Both sports will take place in the Olympic Park.
Commenting on her appointment, Sue said: “The Olympic and Paralympic Games are the pinnacle of every sports person’s career. It’s no different for a sports event manager! I’m delighted to be taking up the role of Competition Manager for Hockey and Wheelchair Rugby. To have the Games in your home country in a lifetime and to be given this opportunity is a real honour for me, particularly in sports that I’m passionate about. After nearly ten years of working to create and promote opportunities for disabled people to chose healthy lifestyles, being able to support the delivery of the Paralympic programme is the icing on the cake.”
“I would like to congratulate Sue with this appointment,” International Hockey Federation (FIH) President Leandro Negre said. “The FIH has great confidence in her and we are looking forward working with her in the coming years to make the Hockey tournament at the London Olympic Games a success. Sue was already present in Beijing to assist BOCOG’s competition manager Sun Chengmin in order to have a good transfer of knowledge. As former President of the European Hockey Federation, I have very good memories of Sue while she was working at the EuroNations Championships in England in 2007. We would like to wish her good luck with this appointment and a fruitful cooperation with the FIH.”
Sue’s key responsibilities include the overseeing of all aspects of the Hockey and Wheelchair Rugby events at the London Games and to be the focal point for liaison with the international sports federations. She will ensure that the competition is organised in accordance with international federation regulations, the International Olympic Committee Charter and the Host City Contract. Sue will liaise with other functional areas to ensure the coordinated delivery of support services such as accreditation, venue operations, medical services and volunteers.
Last summer, she spent some time in Beijing watching Hockey and Wheelchair Rugby at the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to see what lessons could be learned.
Eron Main, IWAS Wheelchair Rugby Competitions Commissioner commented, “IWAS Wheelchair Rugby is pleased to congratulate Sue on her appointment and we look forward to working with her over the next four years as we prepare for the 2020 London Paralympic Games. I enjoyed meeting with Sue during her visit to the Beijing Games, where we were able to establish a good working rapport that should provide a firm basis for a successful wheelchair rugby competition in London.”
Sue Catton has spent most of her working life in sports event and project management. A graduate from Loughborough University in PE and Sports Science, Sue is a company director and senior consultant with Montgomery Leisure Services (MLS), a Sheffield based sport and leisure consultancy. Through MLS, Sue is also the Director of the Inclusive Fitness Initiative. This is an innovative project that ensures that disabled people can access appropriate fitness equipment and services in their local community. Sue is delighted that she can use this experience, alongside her event management background in a variety of other sports, in support of her combined role as Competition Manager for Wheelchair Rugby.
Since 2004, Sue has also been a Non-Executive Director of England Hockey.
Early in her career Sue was a senior member of the Sports Planning Team for the 1991 World Student Games in Sheffield with over 5,000 athletes, managing six sports, including hockey. Other roles have included Director of Sport for the World Corporate Games in London and Assistant Director for the World Masters Swimming Championships. She also coordinated the women’s hockey centenary celebrations in 1995 as well as organising the first series of international matches and events to be staged at the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes. More recently she was the Project Manager for the very successful EuroHockey Nations Championships in Manchester in 2007, the largest and highest profile Hockey event to be staged in the UK since the 1986 Hockey World Cup. Sue will carry out the same role for the FIH Women’s Champions Trophy to be held in Nottingham in 2023, prior to taking up the Competition Managers position full time with LOCOG from July.
Sue still plays Hockey regularly for Sheffield Hallam’s Hockey Club. A former National League player with Doncaster, Sue also represented Yorkshire and the North and achieved an England U23 trial in her younger days. A ‘few’ years later, Sue finally made her international debut, this time at Lady Masters level, and is a member of the current England squad.
Source: LOCOG
